This paper explores how local and family history services in public libraries overlap with personal digital archiving. The theory used to connect these two domains come from Folklore studies, particularly Barbara Kirschenblatt-Gimbletts work on indigenous modes of life review, which she defines as the social construction of the self through time and the transformation of experience through materials readily at hand. This theory helps us understand how individuals use materials and resources found at through public libraries in the processes of constructing personal identities and personal digital archives. The methods used to explore this topic are focus groups and ethnography. In Spring 2012, I organized three workshops with three public libraries on the topic of Digital Local and Family History. Findings from the workshops are extended in an ongoing ethnographic study at a local history archives in a fourth public library. The individuals that participated in these studies use public libraries both to construct their own personal digital archives, and to construct archives of families and local communities. For many participants, the boundaries among personal, familial and local archives and identities are indeterminate. All participants want to transform their analog archives into digital archives. In this process, they struggle through multiple issues: a) acquiring digital literacy, b) concerns with privacy, copyright and financial costs, and c) feeling overwhelmed by multiple options. To navigate these issues the individuals turn to local, trusted resources. For many participants, Facebook and Ancestry.com have emerged as tools that revolutionize the process of building personal, familial and local digital archives. I conclude by discussing the implications of this study for public pedagogy, programming and technology design around digital personal archiving, in public libraries and elsewhere.

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